Cotton calls for “immediate action” from Biden and Garland after attack on LA synagogue

“I am writing to demand immediate action against the recent attack on a Jewish community by a pro-Hamas mob,” Cotton wrote Tuesday. “The mob attacked Jews with bear spray, beat a man until his face and shirt were covered in blood, and chanted ‘Intifada Revolution.'”

The senator noted that the anti-Israel activists had announced their plans in advance and that synagogue members had requested police protection. He wrote that “city officials allowed the mob to get out of control.” Cotton cited reports that “elected officials even told the Los Angeles Police Department to hold back at first, and police should only intervene when violence broke out.”

Cotton pointed to demonstrations on college campuses across the country this spring and criticized the Biden administration, saying its inaction had “emboldened these extremists to escalate their attacks.”

He called on the US Department of Justice and federal police to “take immediate action to protect the Jewish community and prosecute these gangs.”

Finally, the Arkansas senator requested information by July 1. He wanted to know whether the Justice Department had been informed in advance about the protests, whether the case had been referred to the department’s civil rights division, and whether the department would investigate “whether outside groups are funding and organizing these outbreaks of violence.”